Insect electrocutor



D. E. PARTRIDGE INSECT ELECTROCUTOR Filed March 26, 1957 s mm W mm E Nm, E P. K G 1W. Wam i A 15 P D N Nw M w M D WN .Nvwnm M @u Illy. NM. QW wv. mv un a, om mm wm t u o f fL Nn. QN

w w /Qw Wk. vw Q N wm V L L N Nov. 17, 1959 "panying drawing in which: -Fig.` l is a perspective Vmounted on the roof rafters of a building;

United States Patent() INSECT ELECTROCUTOR Donald E. Partridge, Los Angeles, Calif.

. Application March 26, 1957, Serial No. 648,534

i s claims. (c1. 4311z) This invention relates to insect electrocution generally, and particularly relates to open-wire fly electrocutor devices installed adjacent the wall or roof of a building.

' The invention has particular utility in barn-like buildings or chicken houses where flies and other ying insects generally congregate by reason of the conditionsgenerally associated with such buildings. have one or more doors or other openings which permit the ready entry of ying insects which are attracted by conditions favorable to their living and propagation.

' `Insect electrocutors are known in which a box-like structure is provided with spaced apart wire grids through which the insects may ily, whereupon they are electrocuted yby a high tension spark caused by a transformer which steps up the ordinary 1l7-volt house current to a value of say 4000 volts.

These known electrocutors have the advantage of portability, but are definitely limited in their utility to a nominal amount of space surrounding them and there is no assurance that the random iight of insects in one portion of the room, for example, will bring them to the vicinity of the electrocutor.

- It is therefore an object of the present invention to prol vide an open-wire type of electrocutor of few parts and nominal cost which may be permanently installed rin a building, and which will extend the insect killing activity over an extensive area of the building.

It is a further object to provide an insect electrocutor which may be permanently mounted adjacent a wall of a building or like structure where it will not interfere with normal activities in the structure, the electrocutor being characterized by a plurality of grounded conductors surrounding an inner high tension conductor. With this construction the possibility of a person coming in contact -or near contact with the hot or high tension conductor is considerably minimized.V To this end, the invention provides a grounded grid-like basket secured to the device adjacent such parts thereof other than the'co-nductors for protection against inadvertent contact with thehot wire terminals.

It'is a particular object to provide a novel means for the proper spacing of the electrocuting conductors compr'ising the device, the spacing means including a separator plate provided with a centrally located bore through which the high tension conductor passes and a plurality of bores substantially equi-distantly spaced from the central bore and through which the grounded conductors -pass,v the plate including means for insulating the hot conductor'from the plate and the grounded conductors. In particular, the plate is metal to provide conductivity between the grounded conductors, and its central bore is prolvided with an insulator bushing through a bore in ,which the high tension conductor passes. t. Other and furtherobjects will be apparent from the description herein when read in connection with the accom- These buildings usually v View showing the invention.

2,912,787 Patented Nov. 17, 1959 supporting brackets and its insulator, taken on the line y 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. l, the invention is shown as comprising a pair of angled brackets 12 and 14 mounted, by way of example,4 on roof rafters 16 and 18 at opposite ends of a building. The brackets are easily and simply mounted by means of wood screws 20. Insulator blocks 22 and 24 are secured to the brackets by means of stove or machine bolts 26.

The other end of the insulator block 24 is provided with seven bores adapted to receive bolts, two of the bolts 28 and 30 being longer than the other ve and mounted in the two outer of the seven bores. Secured on the distal ends of the bolts 28 and 30 by means of the nuts 32, 34, and 36, 38, respectively, is a basket-like grid 40 which may be comprised of 3/8 or 1/2" hardware cloth, for example.

Disposed on the other end of the grid 40 is a conductor spacer plate 42 secured thereto by means of bolts 44, 46.

Similar conductor spacer plates 48 and 50 are secured to the rafters 52 and 54, respectively, while yet another spacer plate`56 is seen to be secured to the basket-like grid 58 mounted on the insulator block 22 secured to the bracket 12. For practical reasons, the assembly of bracket 12, insulator block 22, grid 58 and spacer plate 56 is identical to the assembly comprising bracket 14, block 24, grid 40 and spacer plate 42. Each of them include identical bolts for supporting the grids 40 and 58 and further are provided with live bolts each to string l a group of conductors 60 therebetween. The conductors 60 may be provided with springs 62 at one end and springs 64 at the other end in order to maintain tension in the conductors after installation. If desired,of course, only one set of springs may be employed.

Since the bracket assemblies are identical, the manner of securing the springs 62 and- 64 to the insulator blocks will be described in connection with block 24, as more particularly shown in Fig. 4. Figs. 2 and 3 will also be referred to in connection with the lay and spacing of conductors.

The five conductor group 60 comprises four grounded conductors 66, 68, 70, and 72 together with one high tension or hot conductor 74. Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the conductor spacer plate 42 defines four bores 76, 78, 80, and 82 through which pass the conductors 66, 68, 70, and 72, respectively. Plate 42 also denes a larger bore 75 within which is disposed an insulator 77 held therein by a snap ring 79. The insulator 77 is provided with a central bore 74a through which the hot wire 74 passes.

Referring -particularly to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the four grounded conductors 66, 68, '70, and 72 are equi-distantly spaced from and around the high tension wire 74. The spacing is such that a substantially free flight path is provided for flies and other insects between the conductors for the purpose of electrocuting the same, as will be evident from the fact that (as brought out more specically below) the grounded conductors are connected to thegrounded side of the high tension Winding of `a transformer and the hot wire to the other high voltage side thereof. f

It will be apparent, of course, that a fewer or a greater number of grounded conductors'may be disposed about insects between the hot and grounded conductors, no matter what the direction of their tiight may be, whether generally parallel to the roof or wall, as the case may be, or whether an approach to the wall is being made to alight thereon. Further, the hot and grounded conductors must be spaced closely enough so that a spark will be initiated therebetween when an insect flies into that space. With these requirements in mind, it will be seen that four grounded conductors provide the most economical and useful system.

Furthermore, the general disposition of hot and grounded conductors as shown and described provides the best possible protection in the event that a person accidentally brushes against the wires. Generally speaking, however, it is not only desirable but also highly essential that the conductors be mounted high enough on the Wall that the possibility of accidental Contact is reduced to an infinitesimal minimum. Preferably, the conductors are mounted adjacent the roof rafters as described, thereby eliminating any element of hazard.

Referring now to Figs. l and 4, the preferred method of laying and connecting the conductor groups 60 will ce described. Preferably, the hot conductor 74 and one of its associated tension springs 62 at one end are tied in and secured to the lower side of the insulating block 24 by means of the centrally located bolt 3l. The conductor 74 passes through the insulator 77 in the plate 42 and through the similar insulators in the plates 23, 50, and 56 and is then held in non-sagging tension by the spring at the other end which is similarly secured to the insulating block 22 by the centrally located bolt 83. A high tension wire S4 from the transformer 86 is connected to the bolt 83. The transformer 86 is mounted at any convenient location, preferably adjacent the bracket l2.

The other side of the high voltage winding of the transformer 36 is brought out and grounded to the casing thereof and a conductor 83 connects the grounded transformer casing to the bolt 9@ to which the grid 58 is secured in the same manner as described in connection with grid 40. Preferably, the conductor 88 is grounded to a ground rod or to the box of an appliance outlet (not shown) by a conductor 91.

One end of conductors 66 and 7i) with their associated ones of the tension springs 62 are secured on the upper side of the insulating block 24 by means of bolts 92 and 94, respectively, while one end of the conductors 68 and '/2 and their springs are secured to the lower side of the block 2d by the bolts 96, 98, respectively. The other ends of the conductors (which pass through the bores in the spacing plates 42, 48, 56, and 56, as for example through the bores 76, 78, 8l), and 82 of plate 42) are secured by means of the tension springs 64 in a similar fashion to the block 22 in non-sagging tension.

Obviously, since the conductors 66, 68, 70, and 72 are grounded, they could be secured at each end in any preferred fashion to the blocks 22 and 24, to the brackets 12 and i4, or even to the rafters 16 and 18 if desired. The method illustrated and described is preferred merely for the sake of convenience since the parts are readily and economically available and present a convenient means for the installer who may not be particularly mechanically minded.

When the installation is complete, the transformer then has its low voltage primary winding connected by means of the conductor pair i) to the appliance outlet 102.

The high tension or hot conductor 74 is energized by the high voltage wire, and the grounded conductors 76, 78, 80, and 82 are connected to the ground wire 88 through the circuit which includes the bolt 90, the grid 58, and the metal spacer plate 56. All of the other plates 50, 48, and 42 and the grid 40 are likewise grounded by reason of the electrical contact of the plates with the grounded conductors. The grids 4i) and S8 provide against inadvertent contact against the hot wire or its springs in the vicinity of the insulator blocks 22 and 24 il where the conductors are more or less fanned open in the intermediate space between the spacer plates 42, 56 and their respective insulator blocks.

it will be apparent from the foregoing description that there has been provided a new and novel electrocutor assembly characterized generally by its economy of parts and ease of installation for permanency in buildings where flies and other insects are wont to gather, and particularly characterized by the organization of grounded conductors disposed around the hot conductor in such manner as to afford the best possible protection in case of inadvertent contact and at the same time providing free liight paths for insects to be electrocuted in iiight. The particular points of novelty are to be seen in the protective grids 4i) and 53 and their arrangement and rganization with the novel spacer plates 42 and 56, t0- gether with the intermediate spacer plates exemplified by plates 4S and 5@ for retaining the spaced relationship 0f the conductors throughout extended lengths thereof.

lt will also be apparent that the tension springs coact between the conductors and the brackets to retain the conductors in relatively constant tension whereby the conductor spacing intermediate the spacer plates is permanent over a long conductor span regardless of expan. sion or contraction of the conductors or the building of which they form a permanent fixture.

l claim:

l. An open-wire insect electrocutor for a building structure for killing flying insects, comprising: a pair of spaced apart brackets mounted adjacent said structure; a plurality of grounded conductors extending between said brackets; insulators secured on said brackets; a high tension conductor extending between said insulators; a grid having one end thereof secured to one of said brackets adjacent thereto but disposed on the side thereof away from the building on which said brackets are mounted; a conductor spacer plate secured to the other end of said grid, said spacer plate defining a plurality of bores therethrough, several of said bores being spaced equidistant from one thereof with said plurality of grounded conductors passing through said several bores and said high tension conductor passing through said one bore, said plate comprising means insulating said high tension conductor from said plurality of grounded conductors, the spacing of said several bores from said one bore being such that an unimpeded liight path for insects is provided between said plurality of conductors and said high tension conductor; and a source of high voltage having one terminal connected to said high tension conductor and the other terminal connected to said plurality of grounded conductors and to said grid.

2. An open-wire insect electrocutor for a building structure for killing flying insects, comprising: a pair of spaced apart brackets mounted adjacent said stucture; a plurality of grounded conductors extending between said brackets; insulators secured on said brackets; a high tension conductor extending between said insulators; a grid having one end thereof secured to one of said brackets adjacent thereto but disposed on the side thereof away from the building on which said brackets are mounted; a conductor spacer plate secured to the other end of said grid, said spacer plate defining a plurality of bores therethrough, several of said bores being spaced equidistant from and about a central one thereof with said plurality of grounded conductors passing through said several bores and said high tension conductor passing through said one bore, said plate comprising means insulating said high tension conductor from said plurality of grounded conductors, the spacing of said several bores from said one bore being such that an unimpeded tiight path for insects is provided between said plurality of conductors and said high tension conductor; and a source of high voltage having one terminal connected to said high tension conductor and the other terminal connected to said plurality of grounded conductors and to said grid.

3. An open-'Wire insect electrocutor for a building structure for killing ilying insects, comprising: a pair of spaced apart brackets mounted adjacent said structure; insulator means secured to said brackets; a plurality of grounded conductors extending between said insulator means; a high tension conductor extending between said insulator means; a plurality of tension springs, one of each being disposed intermedite an end of each of said conductors and their respective securement with one of said insulators, said springs operating to retain said conductors in relatively constant tension; a pair of grids, each having an end thereof secured to one of said brackets adjacent thereto but disposed on the side thereof away from the building on which said brackets are mounted; a. pair of conductor spacer plates, one of each being secured to the other end of each of said grids, said spacer plates defining bores therethrough, several of said bores on each plate being spaced equidistant from and about a central one thereof with said plurality of grounded conductors passing through said several bores, said plates beng provided with insulator bushings in said central ones of said bores, said high tension conductor passing through bores provided in said insulator bushings, the spacing of said several bores in each of said plate from said central bore being such that said 'grounded conductors are spaced parallel to and a sufcient distance from said high tension conductor such that an unimpeded llight path for insects is provided between said plurality of conductors and said high tension conductor; and a source of high voltage having one terminal connected to said high tension conductor and the other terminal connected to said plurality of conductors and said grids.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,654,338 MacFarland Dec. 27, 1927 2,404,687 Bowser July 23, 1946 2,546,429 Carr Mar. 27, 1951 2,647,228 Just July 28, 1953 

